Gastroenterology Hepatology

Choose an item on the right for quick access on this page

Introduction Gastroenterology and Hepatology Unit Staff Location Clinical Services Acute Inpatient Care Consultative Service Outpatient Clinics General Gastroenterology Liver Diseases Research Training

Introduction

Gastroenterology and Hepatology involves the specialised assessment and care of patients with problems of the gastrointestinal tract (oesophagus, stomach, intestines, pancreas) and liver.

Specific areas of interest include:

Gastroenterology Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease Motility disorders Inflammatory bowel disease Peptic ulcer disease Upper gastrointestinal bleeding Cystic fibrosis

Hepatology Chronic hepatitis Metabolic liver diseases (eg haemochromatosis) Cirrhosis Portal hypertension General hepatobiliary diseases

Gastroenterology and Hepatology Unit Staff
Assoc. Prof. Richard H Holloway Acting Director
Professor John Dent (Director of Nerve Gut Laboratory and Special Projects)
Dr HAJ Harley (Head of Clinical Hepatology)
Dr M Schoeman (Head, Gastrointestinal Investigation Unit)
Assoc. Prof. RH Holloway (Head, Gastrointestinal Function Testing Laboratory)
Dr J M Andrews
Dr MJ Arens
Dr J Argyrides
Dr DL Bartholomeusz
Dr DJ Hetzel
Dr RD Johnson
Dr M LeMire
Dr W Tam

Location

The Gastroenterology and Hepatology Unit offices are located within the Gastrointestinal Investigation Unit in Ward Q7 which is on Level 7 of the North Wing.

Gastroenterology and Hepatology inpatients are usually located in Ward S6 which is on Level 6 of the North Wing.

The Outpatient Clinic is located on Level 7 of the Outpatients Building.

Clinical Services

Acute Inpatient Care
The Gastroenterology and Hepatology Unit has a small number of inpatient beds for the management of specialised gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary problems. The Unit also runs a specialised Haematemesis and Melaena Service in partnership with the Oesophago-Gastric Surgical Unit for the management of patients with acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

Consultative Service
A large part of the inpatient workload involves providing a consultative service to the other medical and surgical units at the hospital. Requests for consultations should be arranged through the Gastroenterology Registrar or resident (who can be contacted through the Royal Adelaide Hospital switchboard).

Outpatient Clinics
Clinics are held for patients with general gastroenterological problems as well as for liver disease. Outpatient bookings can be made by telephone on (08) 8222 5589.

General Gastroenterology Clinics are held on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.

The Liver Diseases Clinic is held on Monday afternoons.
Patients with liver disease referred to the RAH can be referred directly to the Liver Diseases Clinic which was established in 1994. The clinic is attended by Dr Hugh Harley, Dr M LeMire, Dr Richard Johnson, Dr Mark Arens and the Senior Gastroenterology Registrar. The Clinic provides for integrated management of patients with close liaison with the Infectious Diseases Unit, Hepatobiliary Surgical Unit and the Drug and Alcohol Resource Unit.

Patients with the following problems can be referred to this Clinic:

• Abnormal liver tests
• Alcoholic liver disease
• Viral Hepatitis B or C
• Cirrhosis
• Hepatic masses
• Haemochromatosis
• Drug induced liver disease
• Cholestatic diseases
• Ascites / Portal hypertension
• Transplantation assessment

We have extensive experience with antiviral (Interferon) therapy of chronic viral hepatitis.

The RAH Hepatology Service works in close association with the South Australian Liver Transplant Unit. Dr Hugh Harley (Hepatologists) and Mr Paul Dolan (Hepatobiliary Surgeon) are involved actively and prominently in the pre- and post-transplant management of these patients.

Documents available on this page are saved in Adobe Acrobat PDF format Click on the Adobe logo, Get Acrobat Reader for FREE download.

A Liver Biopsy Pamphlet is available to prepare patients for this procedure. The booking form is available by clicking on the link above.

(32.2kb)

Areas of Research

(see also Gastrointestinal Investigation Unit)

The Gastroenterology and Hepatology Unit has a vigorous research program. The main focus is in the field of gastrointestinal motility and covers virtually the whole gastrointestinal tract including: oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, rectum and anal canal. There are laboratories for both clinical research (in the Gastrointestinal Investigation Unit) and basic science research (in the Hanson Research Centre). There is also a developing research program in emerging endoscopic techniques.

Basic research in hepatology is performed at the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science / Hanson research Centre. Research involves pathophysiology, and cell and molecular biology in the fields of iron metabolism and haemochromatosis, the regulation of hepatic drug metabolising enzymes, and the mechanisms of hepatic injury and regeneration. Research in the area of viral hepatitis is conducted in conjunction with the Hepatitis Virus Research Laboratory in the Department of Molecular Biosciences of the University of Adelaide.

The research program has an international reputation and regularly attracts trainees and senior investigators from overseas.

There are a number of research fellows and opportunities exist for interested people to undergo research training with a view to a higher degree (M.D. or PhD). Limited opportunities for funding, in the form of scholarships, exist within the RAH campus.

Expressions of interest should be forwarded to either:

Training

The Gastroenterology and Hepatology Unit is fully accredited with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians for training in Gastroenterology. There is one funded clinical training position per year. However it may be possible to accept other applicants for training if they have outside funding. Those interested should write to either